Priorities
by JaneDrew
Summary: Quests. School. Love. Vengeance. What are the real priorities in life?
1. Pensive

Disclaimer: I never really got to have a puppy when I was little, and now I don't own "Inuyasha." Life is so unfair....

Rated "R" for Inuyasha's language.

* * *

Sango was confused. And somewhat concerned.

Since Kagome had come back from the well this time, she had been... surprisingly quiet. She seemed to be spending a lot of time staring off into the distance, a strange and slightly melancholy expression on her face, and she had not only absent-mindedly given Shippo permission to eat three chocolate bars before dinner, she had been taken aback by his subsequent stomache ache, and had had to have the reason for the kit's illness explained to her.

It was quite clear that something was depressing her friend, but Sango had no idea what exactly that something could be.

This wasn't a look-down-at-her-feet, stare-at-him-when-he's-not-looking, sigh frequently and noticeably, "Given the choice, Inuyasha always picks the dead girl" depression.

Nor was it a stay-up-late-reading-by-the-light-of-the-campfire, white-knuckled-grip-on-her-schoolbook, yell-"Osuwari!"-at-anything-that-disturbs-her-studies-whether-it-has-puppy-dog-ears-or-not, "Oh, God, oh God, I'm going to fail this exam and get kicked out of school and end up working at WacDonald's for the rest of my life" depression.

It wasn't even a stomp-angrily-around-and-mutter, glare-balefully-whenever-you-see-that-cheeky-grin, imagine-his-head-as-the-target-when-you-practice, "Argh! Stupid houshi-sama, gropes anything that moves and doesn't mean any of it, you'd think he'd at least realize when a girl likes him and manage to be serious, not that I feel that way about him. At all." depression.

Granted, Sango had never observed Kagome to be suffering from the third type, but she was fairly certain that she would have been able to recognize the symptoms. 

Since Inuyasha's idea of helping Kagome would probably be to stare at her, ears flicking irritably back and forth, before yelling, "Oi, wench! What the hell is buggin' you?" and since Miroku's suggestions for cheering Kagome up were likely to be even less useful, as well as hazardous to life and limb (namely his), Sango had to wait until she could get Kagome alone to figure out what was bothering the young schoolgirl.

Her opportunity finally came the night before they returned to Kaede's village, when Kagome announced her intention of bathing in the nearby hot spring after a long, hot day of travel. Before Kagome could do more than turn in her direction, Sango jumped up and exclaimed, 'What an excellent idea, Kagome-chan! A visit to the hot springs would be just the thing after such a tiring day! I'll fetch my things and be there in a minute."

As Sango went to fetch the bathing supplies, she stopped and knelt next to where Miroku was sitting, a peaceful expression on his face, his eyes closed, to all appearances meditating on personal enlightenment rather than, say, contemplating the best ways to sneak up on two young women bathing in a nearby hot spring.

"Psst! Houshi-sama!"

One violet eye cracked open at her whisper, and one eyebrow quirked up inquiringly.

"Can you keep an eye on Inuyasha while we're visiting the hot springs?"

Both of the monk's eyes were open now, and he looked vaguely puzzled. "Keep an eye on him? Sango... do you believe that.. that Inuyasha might try to peek at you and Kagome-sama?"

"Hentai! Of course not!" _As much as Kagome-chan might want him to...._ "Houshi-sama, haven't you noticed that Kagome-chan has been... not quite herself this trip? I want to find out what's wrong and I don't want Inuyasha anywhere nearby when I ask her." '_And I definitely don't want you to be anywhere near the hot springs, so asking you to keep an eye on him kills two birds with one stone_.'

The monk considered for a moment. "It is true that Kagome-sama has seemed.. somewhat distracted this trip, and not in...err.. .the usual ways. And she is far more likely to talk with you than with the rest of us." He sighed, clearly aware of Sango's second reason for asking him to watch the hanyou while the two girls were bathing. "I will ensure that you remain undisturbed."

"Thank you, houshi-sama. And, since it would be hard for you to ensure that while you were unconscious, I strongly recommend that you stop what you're about to do."

"Sango! Your mistrust truly wounds me!"

"That's not all that's going to be wounding you if you don't move your hand."

Once the two girls had relaxed in the hot springs, Sango noticed that Kagome's pensive expression had returned. Seizing the opportunity, she asked, "Kagome-chan? Is something bothering you? You've been so quiet this trip; did Inuyasha do something?"

"Mmm? Oh.. um.. no, no... he didn't do anything."

"Did... did something happen at home? Is your family alright?" Sango was appalled that she hadn't considered this possibility earlier. She knew what it was like to lose one's family, and she knew that Kagome was particularly close to her mother, brother, and grandfather. If something had indeed happened to the Higurashis....

Kagome looked startled at Sango's sharp tone, and shook her head vehemently. "No! I mean, yes! I mean, they're fine; nothing happened. I... It..." She sighed.

"Kagome-chan, please, what's bothering you?"

Kagome closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "One of my friends.... well, she... umm... got in trouble, and now she's going to have to leave school."

Sango frowned. She understood that school was extremely important to Kagome, that it was vital for her future in her world, but she still didn't understand what exactly the problem was.

"What happened? I mean, if school is so important, what kind of trouble would make somebody have to leave?"

Kagome blushed. She wasn't entirely comfortable talking about this, and she wasn't sure that the young taijiya would understand—social mores in the Sengoku Jidai were very different, after all!—but Sango was genuinely interested, and she didn't want her friend to worry about her.

"I mean, she's ..um... going to have a baby."

"But... but isn't having a baby a good thing? Unless... don't tell me that the father has abandoned them!"

"Oh, no, no; he's.. I mean, they're going to get married, it's just... Sango-chan, in my time, girls don't get married until _after_ they're done with school, and, and, college. To get married like this, to have to leave school.... this is a girl I've known since we were both kids, we used to talk about what we wanted to be when we grew up, she worked so hard to pass the high school entrance exams and do well so that she could go to a good college next year, and now she's not going to get to do any of that, because she's going to be busy being a wife and a mother, and taking care of the household, and doing the grocery shopping and buying diapers and... and.... " Kagome trailed off, clearly too upset to continue.

While not entirely understanding everything that her friend had said, Sango believed that she had a better idea of what was bothering Kagome. "So, you're upset because this girl, your friend, is having a baby at an age when your society doesn't normally accept such things, and because..."

"And because this will mean that her life is... well, not what she wanted it to be. Not what she planned..." Kagome let out a heavy breath, leaning forwards against one of the rocks at the side of the spring and resting her head on her arms. "I just... she had so much potential, Sango-chan; she could have done so much with her life, you know? And now, she's probably never going to even manage to finish high school, let alone go on to college. Being married, having a baby... Plus... I know that it's selfish of me to think like this, but... I barely get to see her nowadays at all, what with being over here all the time. Her friendship is one more thing that I'm going to lose, because I..." she trailed of, uncertain how to finish without making it sound as if she didn't want to be in the Sengoku Jidai with her friends.

How could she explain what she had felt when she'd heard the news? That it had been more than just shock and worry for Suzume and her unborn child, although that had definitely been there. Even as Suzume had talked about her wedding plans, and her love for her soon-to-be-husband, Kagome had been able to sense the undercurrents of disappointment for a carefully-planned future that would now never take place, and they had resonated within her. Not that she was worried that she would end up pregnant! All things considered, she'd probably never even get her first kiss.

Kagome sighed noticeably. '_After all, given the choice, Inuyasha always picks the...'_

"Kagome-chan?"

"Ah, sorry, Sango-chan... It's just that..." '_I see the way that her future is being closed off because she won't be able to finish school, and I worry that... I miss so much being over here. What if it's too much, and I can't.... '_ Cutting that thought of before it could get worse, Kagome hastened to reassure her friend. "It's just that in my time, girls our age are supposed to live at home and go to school and not think about things like marriage and babies for a while. It's going to be such a change for her, and I'm worried that she's going to be so unhappy and end up resenting it."

Sango climbed out of the spring and began to dry herself off.

"Kagome-chan, it is very good of you to worry about your friend. However, I am sure that her husband will take good care of her and the baby, and that she will be very happy with her new family."

Her expression hidden behind her bangs and her arms, Kagome tried to formulate a response to that.

'_For Sango, the important thing is that Suzume will have a husband to take care of her and the baby. Some things are so different back here! And I can't think of a way to explain more than I already have. Oh well, never mind; it was good to at least talk about this with ­somebody. And Sango is right; they are in love, and they'll have the support of their families.... I need to snap out of this and stop worrying, or else I'm going to show up at their wedding looking like I swallowed something sour!'_

Giving herself a brisk mental shake, Kagome climbed out of the hot springs, dried off, and got dressed, following Sango back to their campsite.

The next day, Kagome managed to be much more like her old, cheerful self.

"Osuwari!"

"Oi! Bitch! What the hell was that for?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome ground out through gritted teeth, "I told you _three times_ to stop chasing Shippo around like that!"

"Keh. Brat deserves it, making me almost spill my Ramen..." the hanyou muttered, slowly prying himself up off of the ground as the spell wore off.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "And now the Ramen is cold; are you happy?"

Scarfing down the noodles, Inuyasha shrugged, and managed, "Wrhamn ish Wrhamn."

She decided not to dignify that with a response, instead chosing to finish rolling her sleeping bag with more vigor than the task actually deserved. When she went to finish putting things into her yellow backpack, Kagome paused and turned back to where he was just finishing his morning cup of noodles.

"Oh! Inuyasha, that reminds me; since we're going back to Kaede's village, would it be ok if I went back home for a little bit? We're almost out of supplies, and I could go to school for a day..." '_Or two, if I'm lucky...'_ she finished silently.

"Feh! What the hell would you need to do that for? You have all of your fucking books right here, don't you, wench? You can study just as well over here, right?" His scowl deepened as she sighed and stood up to face him.

"School is very important, Inuyasha. I can't just show up when there's a test and then not be there the rest of the time! Occasionally, I need to actually put in an appearance _in class_. So that they don't all forget who I am, ok?"

Her sarcasm was entirely lost on her audience.

"Feh," he muttered again, "Stupid fucking waste of time..."

"INUYASHA!"

Realizing from the sparks in Kagome's expressive eyes that he was about to make dirt the second course of his breakfast, Inuyasha backed down slightly.

"Fine, wench. One day. And you'd better come back here on time, or else..."

"Of course!" Kagome agreed quickly, her anger evaporating instantly. After the worry about her future that had been gnawing at her for the past week, the promise of even one day of school seemed even more wonderful than the prospect of a hot shower and a night spent in her own bed.

'_Who would have thought last year that I would ever be this excited about having the chance to go to school!'_

In the end, the group decided that they would all return to the village to rest for a day, stock up on supplies, and see if any rumors about jewel shards or Naraku's latest activities had reached Kaede's ears since they had last been there.

As Inuyasha raced through the trees, and Kagome rode her bicycle, with Shippo in the basket, Miroku decided to take advantage of his position on Kirara with Sango. For once, however, this did not involve anything that the taijiya could object to.

"Sango? Were you able to speak with Kagome-sama yesterday and find out what was bothering her?"

Twisting slightly so that she could face him, Sango replied, "Yes, houshi-sama. Kagome-chan was merely worried about one of her friends in her own time."

"Why, what's wrong? Was her friend injured in some way?"

Not sure how to explain everything that Kagome had told her, and most definitely not wanting to get into any conversation involving a woman bearing a man's child, no matter what time she was in, with the monk in such close proximity, Sango settled for the simplest possible explanation.

"Well, her friend has to leave school, and Kagome-chan is worried that she won't be able to see her anymore, that her new life won't have space for the people she knows from when she was still in school."

Miroku nodded his understanding. "Ah. Kagome-sama has such a kind heart; it is no surprise that she would miss a friend who will no longer be there."

Sango nodded. "I suspect that Kagome-chan wanted to return home today so that she could spend some time with her friend before she left."

"Mmmm.. undoubtedly..." Miroku said, distracted by the way Sango was now turning, so that all he had to do was move his hand slightly in order to....

smack

"Hentai!"

Neither one of them noticed a pair of white ears, twitching in the trees above them.

Caught up in the thought of school, a shower, her mother's oden, school, a night in her own bed, and school, Kagome missed the shift in Inuyasha's mood. All through lunchtime, he barely said two words to her, glaring at her over his Ramen. Even Shippo's teasing wasn't enough to distract him from staring at her, his eyes narrowed.

Once the meal was done, Inuyasha cast the empty Ramen cup aside and said brusquely, "Kagome and I will travel back to the well from here; the rest of you can catch up with me in the village."

Kagome blinked, Shippo blinked, Sango blinked, and Miroku paused momentarily in his attempt to discover if Sango would be less likely to slap him if her hands were occupied with lunch.

"Umm... Inuyasha?" Kagome managed hesitantly, standing up and trying to ascertain what exactly had caused the hanyou's odd mood. Usually, he tried to get her back to the well as slowly as possible, and now he wanted the two of them to travel so that they could get there faster? Was it possible that he had noticed her mood, and was trying to give her the extra few hours she would gain that way? It wasn't a New Moon tonight, was it....?

"Come on, wench. We don't have all day! Grab your damn bag and let's get going!"

At her continued silence, Inuyasha said, "Keh!," walked over, and grabbed her bag himself, handing it to her and turning so that she could climb onto his back.

They reached the well in what seemed to Kagome like record time, her hair and Inuyasha's whipping in the breeze as the hanyou traveled by leaps and bounds.

When they got to the well, he dropped her unceremoniously and turned to face her, an angry scowl on his face. Before Kagome could do more than open her mouth, Inuyasha ground out, "You _bitch_—I can't believe that you fucking _lied_ to me like that!"

"I..you...what?" she stammered out, completely at a loss.

"'Oh, Inuyasha; I _have_ to go back; I _can't_ miss out on school; that's the most _important_ thing in my time...'" he whined in what was clearly intended to be an imitation of her own voice.

"But.. .but... school.. school is important; I have to..."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Kagome; I heard Miroku and Sango talking—I know all about your friend."

"But... but what does Suzume have to do with..." Kagome was still very confused, and the pure anger radiating out from Inuyasha's eyes was only making her more nervous.

"If _she_ can do it, bitch, then so can you."

Kagome's eyes widened, and she had to swallow before she could formulate a response.

"Do... do... _it_? Umm.. Inuyasha, what exactly do you..."

"Leave school, idiot." He crossed his arms, a lofty expression on his face. "If your friend can do it, then so can you. Then you can focus on what's fucking important, like finding the Sacred Jewel shards!"

She blinked, not entirely sure where to start. Kagome had no idea what Inuyasha had overheard, and neither the monk nor the taijiya were around for her to ask.

Taking a deep breath, she started her explanation. "Inuyasha, the only reason why Suzume is leaving school is..."

"I don't care how the hell she did it, wench! I just want you to do the same thing, so that you won't keep having an excuse to run out on your responsibilities! '_And me_.' said a small voice in the back of his head.

Kagome was rapidly developing a headache. Her voice strained, she closed her eyes and tried again.

"Inuyasha. First, I am not lying about how important school is. Second, I am not running out on _anything_ by going there. Third, I don't think that you ..."

"Kikyo wouldn't have pulled this kind of crap."

That simple sentence stopped Kagome cold and made all the blood drain from her face. Inuyasha couldn't possibly have just... he did not just say...

Feeling a twinge of guilt at the sight of her pale face, Inuyasha nonetheless kept going with his tirade.

"Kikyo understood her responsibilties. Kikyo knew how important the jewel is; she wouldn't have kept holding up a quest just so she could go running back to _school_."

Part of him knew that bringing up the miko's name was an underhanded tactic. However... '_Kagome always acts like she doesn't have a choice, but how fucking important can it be if people can stop going? She should be here with m- .. with us, dammit! Whenever she's gone, I always... I feel... It's not right that she leave like that all the time! She belongs with m- I mean, she has responsibilities here, and if this is the only way to remind her of that...'_

Inuyasha's words echoed in Kagome's head, erasing anything that she might have said. She couldn't believe that... How could he think that she would...

She couldn't deal with this right now. She had to get out of there. She couldn't just stand there with him, after having been reminded yet again.... She had to get away, as far away from him as she could.

Five hundred years sounded about far enough.

Kagome swallowed, and picked up her backpack. Biting her lip, she took a deep breath, and turned to face Inuyasha.

"Fine. I... If that's what you really want, Inuyasha, then... fine."

And she jumped through the well.

* * *

Author's Note: Hmm... Inuyasha should really learn to pay more attention to what Kagome is trying to say to him, shouldn't he?

General Note: Suzume is supposed to be a couple of years older than Kagome, ie, she is finishing high school and applying for college, rather than preparing for her high school entrance exams the way that Kagome is.

Japanese terms:

-chan: A suffix used for children or between close friends, usually female.

Hentai (noun): Pervert.

Hanyou: Half-demon.

Houshi: A respectful term for a Buddhist monk.

Miko: Shrine priestess.

Osuwari: "Sit, boy!" The Japanese "sit" command used exclusively for dogs. Or disobedient hanyous. ;-)

-sama: A suffix used to connote respect or that the one addressed is of higher rank; often translated as "lord" or "lady."

Taijiya: Demon Slayer/Exterminator; Sango's job.


	2. Planning

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay in posting this! The thing is, this was supposed to be a nice little two-part thing.... and then I got mauled by rabid plot bunnies. So, really, it's not my fault, right? And, now that this has insistently demanded that it have a plot of its very own, I feel compelled to note that this takes place after the episodes featuring the Peach Man, but before anything else (that's about as far as I've managed to see. Sad but true).

Disclaimer: I never really got to have a puppy when I was little, and now I don't own "Inuyasha." Life is so unfair....

Rated "R" for Inuyasha's language.

* * *

The next morning, as the sun peeped over the horizon, a very satisfied hanyou lept down from the tree which he had spent the night in.

Yesterday had been a _very_ good day.

There had been Ramen, he had gotten to chase Shippo around, no dead former girlfriends had tried to drag him to Hell, and there had been more Ramen.

And—the most important thing, the thing that made yesterday a red-letter day, the thing that had him working hard to conceal an ecstatic grin behind his trademark scowl....

He had gotten Kagome to finally agree to leave that idiotic damned "school" place. No more running off and leaving h— _them_ whenever she felt like it, no more having to haul that monstrosity of a bag stuffed full of books the length and breadth of Japan.....

'_Keh. Damned thing practically breaks my back every time I have to carry it. It's a wonder Kagome's able to walk at all, with all that weight._

_Well, that's one more thing she won't have to worry about anymore, isn't it?'_

Rolling his head from side to side to work out the kinks in his neck, Inuyasha strode over to Kaede's hut, where the rest of the group was sleeping. Shippo was curled up with Kirara, Sango slept with her hand lightly on her weapon, ready to use it the moment any dangers threatened, and Miroku leaned against the wall near Sango, one arm keeping his staff leaned against his shoulder, and the other resting oh-so-casually a short distance away from Sango's sleeping form, as if even in sleep the monk was unable to resist preparing to take advantage of any opportunity which might present itself.

'_Fucking lecherous bouzo_. _Ya'd think he enjoyed getting smacked around like that.'_

Inuyasha quietly picked up a basket from alongside the wall, replaced the door flap and headed down towards the river adjoining the village. Fresh fish for breakfast would be nice, he thought, his good mood making him feel generous towards the rest of the group and the old priestess who allowed them to use her hut and who was always ready to bandage their injuries and provide them with whatever aid she could.

Of course, he reflected, feeling the slap of beads against his haori as he ran through the woods, some of her ideas of 'help' were not exactly what he would consider at all useful.

He came to the edge of the steep incline leading down to the flat bank of the river and grimaced. Getting yanked down that incline, face first, was not one of his fondest memories.

'_Stupid wench, overreacting. Wasn't as if I had even done anything, wasn't my fault that she decided to stand up in the water like that, all naked and....'_

The sudden picture that rose up out of his memory was so distracting that he almost missed his footing and fell into the river.

For having only gotten a brief glimpse of her, his mind seemed to remember every detail with shocking clarity, from the way her dark hair had clung around her face and shoulders to the paleness of her skin, to the way the water had run along the curve of her waist and...

'_Dammit! Fish! Breakfast!'_

In the entire history of that section of the river, nobody had ever caugh fish with the speed and single-minded concentration that Inuyasha did that morning. He only stopped when the basket was full to overflowing, looking at it almost with surprise. Breakfast would be plentiful; even Kirara would have enough fresh fish to satisfy her.

Picking the basket up carefully, Inuyasha prepared to head back towards the village. The others should be up, or starting to get up, by now, and that meant that they would be thinking about breakfast. He should be sure to get the fish to them before they began to fix something else. After breakfast, they could spend time planning their next move in the quest to kill Naraku and complete the Shikon Jewel.

It was almost funny; getting his hands on the Jewel used to be his main goal in life, the thing that occupied his every waking moment and not a few of his dreams. Now, while it was still something he thought about, something he planned on accomplishing, it had receded in importance, replaced by his need to destroy the monster that had caused so much pain and suffering, that had tricked and murdered Kikyo and destroyed the lives of countless others.

Now, if he had to chose between getting his hands on the completed Shikon Jewel and eradicating Naraku.... well, he doubted he would even hesitate.

There were priorities.... and then there were priorities.

And, now that Kagome was going to be spending almost all of her time where she belonged, the quest should be able to move forward that much more quickly.

Inuyasha frowned slightly to himself. Given how important it was that they get back on the road, back to their quest, maybe he should go and fetch Kagome today?

Then again, considering the last things that he'd said to her, the argument he'd finally used to make her agree to quit school.... maybe he should wait. Until he was sure that the first hundred words out of her mouth wouldn't be guaranteed to put him so deeply into the ground that it would take him a week to get back out.

It wasn't as if he'd meant to... he hadn't wanted to.... Even Inuyasha could recognize that bringing Kikyo's name into the discussion was bound to cause Kagome pain. The miko's name had just slipped out before he'd been able to stop himself, and once he'd said it, he had plowed on ahead with his argument rather than admit he'd said something wrong. If he'd apologized, how was he supposed to keep insisting that Kagome listen to him?

He'd just have to make sure that she understood how much better it was for her to be back here with h—with the group, rather than trying to live two lives at once.

'_She gets so worried about her tests—hell, sometimes she gets so stressed about things that she doesn't get any sleep, and she yells "Osuwari!" at anybody who tries to talk to her, even when it isn't me! How can that be a good thing? Doesn't she realize that... that we worry about her when she gets like that? It's my job to protect her, dammit, and that includes protecting her from the hell she keeps putting herself through because of school, and tests, and who knows what else over there. How am I supposed to protect her from anything when she's always off in that weird time of hers, running around in that ridiculously short... not that it matters what the hell the wench is wearing!'_

As Inuyasha approached the hut, he could hear the typical morning noises that meant that the rest of their group had woken up and was ready to start the day.

"HENTAI!!"

smack

Shippo came bounding out of the hut, stretched, and looked around until he saw Inuyasha with the basket of fish.

"Inuyasha! You went fishing? How come you didn't take me along with you? I would have gotten up!"

"Oi, brat—go tell Kaede and the others that there's fresh fish for breakfast, ok?"

Turning to go back into the hut, Shippo almost ran into Kirara, who had clearly caught the smell of fish and was hoping to lay a claim before the humans started spoiling things by cooking them. Inuyasha grinned and tossed two of the larger fish to the firecat, who caught them gracefully, tails twitching, and strolled around to the back of the hut where she could devour them in private, but remain close enough to return and request a second helping.

The rest of the group was appreciative of getting a chance to have freshly-caught fish for breakfast, and Kaede quickly set about grilling them while the miso soup came to a boil. Deciding that it would be rude to catch the fish and then eat nothing but Ramen, Inuyasha ate breakfast along with the rest. Sango, although she spent most of breakfast glaring balefully at a cheerfully-grinning Miroku, complimented Kaede on her cooking and thanked Inuyasha on both her own and Kirara's behalf.

Caught up in his own thoughts, Inuyasha blinked at her blankly before registering what she had said.

"Oh... sure, Sango.... just happened to be up, and I figured we might as well take advantage of being able to eat in peace."

The twitchy, restless feeling that he got whenever Kagome had left to spend time on the other side of the Well was making it hard for him to concentrate, and this time it was compounded by the nervous, sick feeling he always got whenever she'd left on bad terms with him, the worry deep in his gut that maybe this time she would decide not to come back.

'_But she said that she'd do it! She said that it was fine! She's gonna come back, and this time she'll finally be able to stay here.'_

'_But what if she thinks you won't ever let her go back,'_ a small voice in his head said. _'What if she thinks you're trying to keep her from seeing her family again?'_

Inuyasha almost casually knocked Shippo away from an attempt to steal part of his fish.

'_Bull! Kagome knows that I wouldn't do that! I know that her family is important to her, even that crazy old geezer—I wouldn't make her stay away from **them**; she just doesn't need to spend all of that fucking time in that stupid school of hers!'_ He frowned slightly.

Could Kagome really think that little of him? Internally wincing as he remembered how their last argument had ended—ok, how _he_ had ended their last argument—he had to admit that it was possible that Kagome would in fact believe that no more school meant no more time with her family.

Well, he was just going to have to make it clear to her that he had no problem with her visiting her family... as long as she wasn't _unreasonable_ about it.... and remembered to bring back plenty of Ramen whenever she visited.

Once breakfast had been taken care of, Shippo happily sat in the corner and colored, using the crayons and paper Kagome had brought him, while the others began to discuss strategy.

"Oi, Kaede-baaba—any rumors about Shikon shards while we were gone?"

"No, Inuyasha—there were no rumors of shards, or of activity that seemed like Naraku."

"Keh. Fucking bastard's just hiding and plotting Probably wasn't expecting me to defeat Ryukotsusei, and now that I'm not dead, he doesn't know what to do next."

Miroku nodded slightly at Inuyasha's words. "Indeed, I believe that Inuyasha may be correct."

"What the hell is this "may be" crap, bouzo?"

Ignoring the interruption, the monk continued in the same even tone.

"Naraku expected that not only Inuyasha, but probably the rest of us would meet an untimely end when he released Ryukotsusei. The dragon's death means that not only are we still alive and looking for him, but that Inuyasha is clearly much stronger than he had anticipated—strong enough to accomplish even what Inuyasha's father had been unable to do. Even if it was nothing more than luck...."

"Oi!"

"...there is no doubt that Naraku must now recognize Inuyasha as a much more formidable foe. He will need to plan his next move carefully, and I believe that we can take advantage of this."

"What do you mean, houshi-sama?" Sango asked.

Turning his brilliant smile towards the taijiya, Miroku explained, "Naraku is probably more uncertain now than he has been for some time, possibly since Kagome-sama fired her arrows at him and almost destroyed him. He knows that we are stronger, but does not yet know the details. And Naraku does not care to be ill-informed, or in a position where he is likely to be surprised. I believe that he will be paying particular attention to what we do over the next several weeks, until he feels ready to engage in another confrontation."

Kaede frowned slightly. "You mean that he will spy on you? Using the Saimyoushou, as he has before?"

He nodded. "Exactly. We know that he has used them in the past to spy on us, and find out where we are; if we _know_ that he's going to be following our every more and spying on us...."

".... then we can use that to our advantage," finished Sango eagerly. "But... houshi-sama, how exactly do you propose that we do that? Simply wander around the countryside and lead the insects on a wild goose chase? That seems rather.... unplanned, doesn't it?"

Inyasha let out a light, "Keh" under his breath. The young woman had a point; while Miroku was probably right that Naraku was going to be spying on them, there didn't seem to be much point to just rambling around the countryside, probably running into other demons and hostile humans. If they weren't going to be going after Naraku himself, or follow leads about more jewel shards, why couldn't they just stay here in the.....

Suddenly, several things clicked together unpleasantly in Inuyasha's mind.

Naraku's insect spies, buzzing and hovering around them as the evil demon tried to find a weakness he could attack...

The village, the one place they had as a sanctuary and a resting place between battles....

Kaede, who, while determined and resolute, was definitely old and no match for the forces Naraku could bring against her and the innocent villagers....

And, most importantly...

The Well. Kagome.

His blood ran cold as he realized what could happen if Naraku's spies saw the girl climbing out of the Well, seemingly appearing from nowhere, or if they saw her departure.

How lucky had they been so far, that Naraku had never seemed to realize the Well's importance?

'_Shit.... Miroku's right; it's too dangerous for us to stay here when we know that Naraku's going to be watching! We have to get out of here; doesn't really matter which direction we head in at first... although it would be better if we at least **looked** like we knew what the hell we were doing.... '_

He jolted out of his thoughts and caught Miroku mid-sentence.

".... so, you see, Sango, it really is the only sensible plan."

"But what if there are rumors about Shikon shards while we are out trying to lead the Saimyoushou in circles, houshi-sama? Must we all leave the village?"

The monk was unperturbed by her objections, and a faint twinkle entered his eyes as he smoothly replied, 'Of course, Sango; you are absolutely right; the best plan would be for the two of us to travel together, while Shippo and Inuyasha and Kirara remain in the village."

Sango's eyes narrowed into a glare that would have sent any other man backing slowly away. Or possibly running, quickly. Miroku's grin only widened.

"And _why_, houshi-sama," she ground out through gritted teeth, "does it make any sense to leave Kirara in the village with Inuyasha and Shippo?"

"Why, my dear Sango, who else will be able to rapidly send messages about Shikon shards and then bring us to meet them?" His face was a picture of innocence, which fooled nobody else in the room. "We should begin packing everything we will need immediately! I suggest that we take along Kagome-sama's sleeping bag...."

Before Sango could carry out any of the responses she was clearly thinking about, all of which seemed likely to render the monk incapable of travel for the foreseeable future, Inuyasha stood up and brusquely announced, "We'll leave before lunch. Kirara will stay here to bring any news, and to bring Kagome when she gets back. Kaede-baaba, even if you haven't heard any rumors, what direction do you think would be most useful?"

The others blinked at the hanyou's decisive tone. After a pause, Miroku nodded and also stood up. In spite of his words to Sango, the monk had clearly also thought of the dangers Inuyasha had realized and knew that the safest thing for the village would be for them to leave it. Sango looked puzzled, but evidently recognized that there had to be some reason for air of urgency.

Kaede looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying, "Inuyasha, if you are truly interested in collecting more Shikon shards, there is one obvious course for you to take..."

'_What? Dammit, if that old hag knows where we can get more shards, why hasn't she said anything be—oh. She better not be about to say....'_

"The wolf-prince Kouga, as you know, still possesses two shards in his legs. Eventually, that fact will have to be dealt with. If you are needing a direction in which to travel, visiting him to at least discuss the fate of his shards would not be a bad idea."

'_Ah, fuck. I knew that she was going to say that. Why the hell does it have to be that damn wolf? Why couldn't it just be some evil, powerful demon who happened to swallow a shard or two? Something that we could just kill, without having to pretend to be friends with it, or watch as it kept trying to put its disgusting, smelly paws all over...'_

"But...but what about Kagome? How can we leave if Kagome's not here?" Shippo piped up, his tail fluffing nervously, upset at the thought of having to leave without the young miko to coddle him and sneak him chocolate before meals.

"Feh. Weren't you listening? I already said, Kirara will stay here and bring Kagome when she gets back. The rest of us will go on ahead. To visit... " his voice was strained, "Kouga."

No happier than Shippo at the thought of traveling without Kagome's presence, her voice and her sweet scent surrounding him, and irritated beyond words that he was going to have to go out of his way to find that stupid, stinking, wimpy, idiotic, over-confident, stupid wolf, Inuyasha stalked out of the hut to once again work off his tension by ensuring that the village would never lack for firewood.

The little kitsune scowled, and he opened his mouth to protest, but Sango leaned over and said, "Don't worry, Shippo; I'm sure that Kagome will be back with us soon. And we'll make sure to have things scouted out for her by the time she gets back, right?"

Somewhat appeased, Shippo finally nodded and began to gather up his crayons.

After all, if Kirara was carrying Kagome back to join the rest of the group, there was always the possibility that she would take advantage of the firecat's greater strength to bring more than the usual amount of sweets and other interesting things back with her.

Or that a heartfelt declaration of how terrible it had been to be dragged off into the wilderness without her, accompanied by big, soulful eyes, could encourage her to do so the next time she went back through the Well.

When the group was ready to depart, Miroku went in search of Inuyasha, still off terrorizing innocent trees. Inuyasha paused momentarily in his work at the monk's approach, then stopped altogether when it became clear that he was there to speak with the hanyou rather than make sly observations about Inuyasha finding better ways to work off stress.

"Oi, bouzo—whaddya want?"

"Inuyasha, everyone is prepared to depart. Kaede has packed a lunch, and if we start now, we can cover quite a bit of ground before nightfall." He paused, looking as if he wanted to add something, but said nothing further.

Inuyasha sighed. 'Yeah, but not as much as if we brought Kirara along, right? I know that it will mean travelling more slowly, but I... I don't want Kagome to get stuck in the village once she comes back."

'_And, of course, Kagome is much more important than the possibility that there could be rumors about Shikon shards, isn't that right, Inuyasha?'_ the monk thought to himself, somewhat amused.

"Anyway, she should be back soon, so Kirara can just catch up with us then. Probably before we even see a hair on that wimpy wolf's scrawny tail. Besides which...." he looked directly at Miroku, his eyes serious, "... I think that you were right in wanting to leave the village as soon as we could. If Naraku is really going to be spying on us, and I think he will be..... this is the last place we should be hanging around."

'_We've seen so many innocent villagers get massacred, so many homes and lives get destroyed... If Naraku attacked Kaede's village....'_

Miroku's only response was to nod solemnly. Together, the two of them turned and headed back to the village, where Sango was already waiting, Shippo perched on her shoulder. Kirara was winding around Kaede's feet, but came over to say farewell to them as they prepared to make their way out into the forests surrounding the village.

'_At least with Kirara there, the village isn't completely defenseless. At the very, very least, she will be able to get Kagome out of here, if it comes to that. Please, please don't let it come to that... She just needs to make it through safely this one last time, just one more time, once she's out of that school of hers; is that too much to ask?'_

Given his past luck, Inuyasha had a hard time squelching the insidious thread of fear that insisted that Kagome's safe return might indeed be too much to ask.

After several hours on the road towards the wolves' den, the group stopped for lunch. As always, Inuyasha had Ramen, while the others enjoyed the lunch that Kaede had put together for them. True, the Ramen might not be as good as when Kagome fixed it, but it was still Ramen, and as far as he was concerned, nothing the village could offer them came close.

Of course, now that he knew Naraku was likely to be spying on them, watching their moves, trying to find a weakness, Kagome probably shouldn't be making trips back through the Well to bring more Ramen, either. Guess he'd just have to ration the supply that they had with them, savoring it while he still could.

Caught between enjoyment of the noodles and broth and the melancholy knowledge that he should hold out as long as possible before letting himself enjoy such a pleasure again, Inuyasha was only half paying attention to his friends.

He was thus all the more startled when he caught the tail end of something Sango was saying.

".... after all, Kagome probably won't want to come back until after the wedding."

'_The WHAT???'_

Miroku, oblivious to the way Inuyasha had suddenly frozen in place, replied, "Ah.. I see. That does make sense, after all. Did she say when the blessed event... "

"WHAT wedding?" came a loud interruption from the other side of their small campfire.

Sango looked up at him, tilting her head in confusion at his outburst. Shaking her head as she realized that Inuyasha's focus had been on food rather than their conversation, she started at the beginning.

"I was just telling houshi-sama, Inuyasha, that one of Kagome-chan's friends is getting married, and that she will probably want to attend the ceremony."

"Keh." Inuyasha relaxed almost visibly. For a minute he had thought.. not that that was possible, of course, but...

Miroku continued with the conversation as if it had never been interrupted. "Did she say when this blessed event will be taking place?"

"I don't exactly know, houshi-sama. From what Kagome-chan explained to me... it would seem to be a matter of... well, of some urgency that it take place quickly."

The monk tilted his head, and even Sango couldn't tell if he was honestly confused or attempting to make her uncomfortable. Either way, she couldn't help the faint blush that colored her cheeks at his next question.

"Why is it urgent? I always thought that women enjoyed the process of planning for the ceremony, and the celebration afterwards must certainly take a lot of arranging."

"Ah...well... Kagome-chan's friend is... she's going to have a baby. In fact, from what Kagome-chan told me, that's the main reason why she is getting married."

Miroku's face took on a slightly vacant expression, tinged with sadness, clearly thinking about women and children and his own quest to get an heir. Seeing the monk's distress, Sango sought to continue the conversation.

"From what Kagome-chan said, it is very unusual for a girl the age of her friend to have a baby and get married; she was distressed because it meant that her friend would have to leave school...."

Inuyasha dropped his Ramen. He didn't even notice.

* * *

Next Time: Inuyasha realizes that getting Kagome to agree with him might not have been such a smart move after all...

Japanese terms:

-chan: A suffix used for children or between close friends, usually female.

Hentai (noun): Pervert.

Hanyou: Half-demon.

Houshi: A respectful term for a Buddhist monk.

Kazaana: The black hole-like "wind tunnel" in Miroku's hand, the result of a curse placed on Miroku's grandfather by Naraku.

Miko: Shrine priestess.

Osuwari: "Sit, boy!" The Japanese "sit" command used exclusively for dogs. Or disobedient hanyous. ;-)

Saimyoushou: Naraku's poison insects, used by him as spies and to prevent Miroku from using his Kazaana.

-sama: A suffix used to connote respect or that the one addressed is of higher rank; often translated as "lord" or "lady."

Taijiya: Demon Slayer/Exterminator; Sango's job.


	3. Poetry

Author's Note: Err.. well... Holidays. Moving. Rabid plot bunny attacks. Not necessarily in that particular order And a chapter that really needed to be in the story, but refused to play nicely with the other chapters and actually get written. Sigh...

Disclaimer: If I did own Inuyasha, I would have used him to help haul my luggage recently. Alas, I do not.

Rated "R" for Inuyasha's language.

* * *

The sun rose grudgingly over Higurashi Shrine, its rays slowly reaching Kagome's window and attempting to wake up the sleeping teen. 

She promptly pulled a pillow over her head and attempted to ignore the light, her mother's calls to breakfast, and and Buyo's decision that the patch of sunlight on her stomach made a perfect cat pillow.

Yesterday had been a bad day. A _very_ bad day. In fact, on a scale of one to surprise math test, yesterday had ranked a solid "Hojo shows up at the shrine with yet another strange herbal remedy only to be told that Kagome is still in bed with a pesky case of hoof-in-mouth."

Kagome wasn't sure she could get up to face today's problems when she still didn't know how to handle the ones she had left over from the day before.

Wincing as Buyo performed yet another adjustment in search of the ideal position for some very important napping, Kagome finally gave up and got out of bed...

...and promptly went into full-out panic mode when she looked at her clock and realized what time it actually was. Her mad dash into the bathroom, back into the bedroom, down the stairs, into the kitchen, and out the door effectively kept her from thinking further about any of her non-punctuality-related problems.

Then, on the way to school, she caught sight of her reflection in a window and stopped, staring at her uniform. Her school uniform. The one she insisted on wearing back in the past, no matter how weird everybody they encountered thought it was, no matter how many stares or comments it caused, no matter how impractical it really was to run around the countryside fighting monsters in a short skirt, because being able to look down and see her uniform meant remembering the other side of her life, remembering that she had priorities and goals that looked beyond re-assembling the Sacred Jewel or defeating Naraku.

Because it made her remember her future, in more ways than one.

Kagome sighed and turned away, her panicked run slowed to a trudge.

How could she hope to explain to her friends in the past what school meant to her? Sure, she complained about it. A lot. Vigorously. But that didn't mean it wasn't vitally important, and for Inuyasha to just summarily decide that she must have been lying to them all...

She shook her head. She loved the stubborn, prickly hanyou, really she did, but sometimes, Kagome was fairly sure Inuyasha's brain was broken or something. His ability to jump to conclusions, especially where her life was concerned, had lead to fights before, but this was definitely the worst one yet. Even the times he'd flown off the handle regarding Kouga had been easier for her to deal with; she could kind of understand why Kouga's repeated declarations that she was his woman would annoy Inuyasha—they certainly annoyed her, and part of her occasionally found his jealousy endearing, even if the rest of her wanted to beat him around the head for being an idiot who was incapable of believing her denials.

She sighed as she reached the school courtyard. Under other circumstances, she would have enjoyed seeing Inuyasha's blush as she explained exactly why her friend was leaving school. He could face down a horde of the worst demons Naraku could throw at them and not loose his cocky attitude, but there were some areas that his poor male, teenaged brain couldn't handle withouth making even his ears tinge faintly red.

This time, however... Kagome had been shocked by Inuyasha's anger, by his absolute unwillingness to let her finish a sentence of explanation. And her shock had turned to sickened fury when Inuyasha had bluntly not only accused her of shirking her responsibilties to him, their friends, and their quest, but had pointed out that Kikyo would never have acted that way.

_'Of course,'_' Kagome thought with a mixture of annoyance and sadness, '_Kikyo was perfect, completely devoted to her duties. Never mind that she's the one who calmly gave our jewel shards to Naraku without a thought for the consequences. Never mind that, frankly, deciding to take a super-powerful magical jewel that countless demons were after and go wandering around alone in an isolated meadow at sunrise could be considered to show a certain lack of common sense. As far as Inuyasha is concerned, Kikyo can do no wrong. Unlike me._'

Frankly, at this point, she had no clue how she was going to handle the situation. By the end of their argument all she'd cared about was getting away from the conversation, from the look in his eyes, and had spoken straight from the aching, defeated feeling in her stomach, with none of her usual fire. She wasn't sure if it was better to allow herself a couple of days to enjoy school while she had the chance, or head back that afternoon to thoroughly "Osuwari" him into listening to her explanation before continuing their quest. The first might give her a much-needed chance to catch up and cool down, but it would also allow Inuyasha to get used to the idea that she was not going back to school, and she had a nasty feeling that that was awfully close to lying to him.

But going back this afternoon meant that she'd have to face him with her heart still bleeding from their argument, her emotions bruised enough that she wasn't sure where to even begin a conversation with him.

Well, she was fairly certain she knew what the first word or ten would be, but after that, she had no idea how to continue...

_'Inuyasha, I understand that Kikyo was devoted to her responsibilities, but you've got to understand that school is an important responsibility for me...'_

_'Inuyasha, I really wish that you'd stop using your dead ex girlfriend as a model that the rest of us fall short of...''_

_'Inuyasha, I know that the quest is important, because we need to find any remaining jewel shards and defeat Naraku so that you can go traipsing off to Hell with that re-animated clay pot who once tried to kill me...'_

On second thought, staying at least another day was sounding better and better.

"Kagooommeeee" A trio of squeals rang out across the courtyard as her best friends.. well, her best friends in this time... dashed up to her and started peppering her with questions.

"Have you gotten over your scurvy"

"Do you need the notes for math"

"Did you get Hojo's message about going to the movies next weekend"

"Was that the reason you kept breaking out into those weird rashes last month"

"How about English? We have a test coming up, you know."

"Or are you still involved with that loser boyfriend who keeps running back to that other girl"

'_Just stay perfectly still and don't answer, and maybe they'll go away...'_ Kagome told herself.

Of course, it didn't work.

Giving up, Kagome finally said, "I'm fine, math and English notes would be nice, and no, I haven't talked to Hojo recently."

'_And that "loser boyfriend" and I had another huge fight, which I can't talk to you guys about...'_

Sighing, she let herself be led into the building by her friends, all chattering away like magpies.

Math class was manageable; Kagome hadn't missed any tests, and there weren't any coming up in the next week. The subject was difficult enough to require total concentration, which she was glad of.

While they were waiting for the arrival of their English teacher, Eri leaned over and whispered, "Kagome! Are you feeling well enough to go to WacDonald's after school?"

Knowing that Eri and the others just wanted a chance to get her alone and gossip, Kagome managed a faint smile. She really wasn't sure that she'd be up for another gossip session that seemed bound to revolve around her, but... she didn't get to see her friends that often.. .or eat ridiculously unhealthy junk food...

"Sure, I think so," Kagome finally said, just as the teacher came in.

The unit for this month focused on American literature, an attempt to get the students to connect with the subject.

'_Suzume used to talk about studying in America...'_ Kagome thought wistfully, remembering her friend's exuberance about it, how she'd collected brochures from American universities.

Kagome had traveled farther than any of her classmates could possibly imagine, had seen things none of them would have encountered outside of their dreams. Or nightmares. But still.. There was so much that she still dreamed of in this world, so many things that she wanted to be able to do, someday...

The English teacher was bland and harmless, trying valiantly to make a classroom full of teenagers understand that there was more to English than baseball, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola. Kagome admired his admittedly doomed efforts..

"Miss Higurashi!"

... that is, she admired them when they didn't involve calling on her when she was thinking of something else or hadn't prepared anyway because another English textbook had gotten dissolved in a puddle of demon spit.

Kagome jerked to attention. "Yes, sir?"

"Good of you to join us, Miss Higurashi. We are currently discussing the American poet, Mr. Robert Frost. Please read the poem out loud for the rest of the class."

Standing and flushing slightly, Kagome began,

Some say the world will end in fire;  
Some say in ice.  
From what I've tasted of desire  
I hold with those who favor fire.

Kagome paused...

_Consuming lust, burning twisted and covetous, greedily willing to sacrifice humanity for a chance at possession..._

But if it had to perish twice,  
I think I know enough of hate  
To know that for destruction ice  
Is also great  
And would suffice.

_Young love, pure and passionate, forever frozen in a moment of agony and betrayal, transmuted into an ice-cold determination to never again lose the one it had longed for, lost, and depised..._

She read slowly and carefully, trying to not only pronounce all the words correctly but to convey the emotions of the poem while not being overly affected by the images it brought to mind.

When she'd finished, the teacher said "Thank you, Miss Higurashi, for an excellent reading. Now, can anybody tell me what the poem means? Miss Higurashi?"

Kagome blanched. "Um..It.. it means that both love and hate can be... can be destructive... That they're really not that opposite from each other..."

"And can you think of any examples?"

'_How about ex-girlfriends trying to drag you down to Hell?'_ Kagome thought, but she said, "Um.. well, I... " '_Or selling your soul and letting your body be devoured by a horde of demons...'_

She shook her head. "I'm sorry; I can't really think of any..."

"How about a guy who gets ragingly jealous and violent but keeps cheating on you anyway?" Eri piped up brightly.

Kagome was sure she was blushing hard enough to burst a blood vessel.

Well, at least if that happened, she'd have a legitimate medical reason for missing school...

Fortunately, the teacher didn't seem to notice. He merely smiled and said, "Well, that's a very... _emotional_ situation, I'm sure.. but it isn't exactly what Mr. Frost had in mind."

Willing herself not to turn and glare at her friend, Kagome relaxed slightly as the teacher began to call on other students who, presumably, didn't have to deal with the same haunting memories of the dead that she did.

'_Although,_' she thought, _'It's not the memory of the dead that I mind so much as their tendency to show up and make personal remarks. Or try to kill Inuyasha. Or me.'_

Fortunately, none of the other classes brought up any unhappy memories having to do with Kikyo, Inuyasha, or Suzume, for which Kagome was extremely grateful.

Of course, that didn't mean that she wasn't able to get distracted perfectly well by herself.

'_... and if I go to the store after WacDonald's but before going home, I can stock up on ramen... he might actually listen if I can distract him with shiny new ramen... Didn't they come out with some new flavors just last... Ack! Focus! Your one day at school in you can't remember how long, and you're thinking about ramen. Think about the here and now, Higurashi, not the.. not the here and then...'_

As she walked down the hallway after the final bell, Kagome was so caught up in trying out conversational strategies in her head that she almost missed the voice calling her name.

"Higurashi! Higurashi?" said a clear, young male tenor.

Kagome wondered if Hojo would notice if she suddenly lept sideways into the nearest storage closet. He was a perfectly nice boy, and she always felt bad about having to lie to him, let him down, or stand him up. Which didn't mean that she wouldn't do it. And, since she felt bad about it, she had decided that the best strategy was to consciously avoid him whenever she was in school and ignore him whenever possible.

This, unfortuntately, looked like it was going to be one of the times when she couldn't ignore him.

Slightly breathless, obviously having run down the hallway to catch up with her, Hojo said, "Higurashi! I'm glad your back; is your colic all cleared up, then? I was going to bring something for it, but I didn't realize you'd be here today."

"Uh.. um.. yes, thank you, Hojo, I feel fine now..." Kagome said, certain that her face was now bright red. _'Well, except for the fact that I am going to have to kill my grandfather..._'

"Great! So.. um.. would you like to go to a movie on Saturday? Um... if you think you'll be well enough then."

"I...uh..." _'I'll be back running around during the feudal era of Japan,_ "Thank you Hojo, but I think I'll be..." '_trying to find the splinters of a mystical jewel I'm responsible for shattering and defeat a terrible, evil demon._ "That is, um, they're thinking of running some more tests, I think, this weekend. To, err, see if they can figure out what was causing the..." she winced, "colic."

"Oh," Hojo said, sounding a hair less cheerful. "Well.. um.. maybe next weekend then, Higurashi?"

Kagome managed to give him a smile that was sweet and sorry at the same time.

"We'll see," she said, "Call the shrine on Saturday morning, and we'll see."

Giving her a broad grin, like he'd just gotten a perfect score on his college entrance exams, Hojo said, "Of course, Higurashi! I'll see you... I mean, I'll talk to you then!"

Watching him walk back down the hall, a spring in his step, Kagome closed her eyes and sighed.

Hojo was everything she ought to have been interested in; his family, his prospects, his dedication to his school work.. the way that he clearly felt about her. She even knew that he was good looking, and he was certainly polite and popular. Unlike some people she could... ..She cut that thought off before it could get much further.

In a way, she mused, Hojo represented everything that she was giving up by spending her time in the past, by deciding that that world was, for now, more important than this one.

Although she wasn't sure that he would make a good example to try to prove to Inuyasha that she was taking her past responsibilities as seriously as her present ones.

Grabbing a snack with her friends turned out to be less traumatic than she had feared. Although they gave her boyfriend advice that ranged from humorous to violent without detouring towards helpful, it was nice to take a break and catch up on gossip with them.

She had to admit, sitting and letting their chatter wash over her was kind of.. relaxing. Nice to be able to giggle with them about the latest pop stars, and school scandals, and not about strategies and tactics and possible hiding places for Naraku or locations of more jewel shards.

Walking home, Kagome decided to give herself until tomorrow to go back to the Sengoku Jidai. Maybe by then Inuyasha would have calmed down enough to listen to reason. Maybe by then, she would have gotten over her hurt enough to talk reasonably in the first place.

And, most importantly, maybe by then Kagome would have figured out what exactly the heck she was supposed to say. She'd been thinking about the issue all day, thoughts of Suzume's disappointed face, Inuyasha's angry expression, running through her mind.

She was working so hard, harder than anybody on either side knew, to keep the two halves of her life in balance, to concentrate enough to fulfill her responsibilities in both without losing either. She couldn't give either one of them up.

Kagome frowned. _'Is that what it's about? Giving something up? Kikyo.. Kikyo was willing to give up being a miko, to give up everything she had trained for.. Inuyasha was willing to give up his dream of being a full demon—he was even willing to give up being a hanyou... They were willing to give up the most important things in their lives for each other...'_

There was an annoying little voice in the back of her mind that was trying to point out that Kikyo had _wanted_ to live a normal life, that the duty of protecting the Jewel was not something she would have been sorry to sacrifice, but Kagome told it to go think about algebra for a while.

'_Is that what Inuyasha needs to hear from me? That I'm willing to sacrifice for the quest? How can he not know... doesn't he understand... Well, of course he doesn't, Kagome; what on earth in that time could be compared to school and how important it is? They don't have entrance exams, or college... Granted, they have things like demons that are worse. Welll, probably worse.'_

Having something concrete to latch onto as the cause of the hanyou's anger helped to make the issue clearer.

'_All Inuyasha can see is that I keep coming back here; he doesn't see that I keep leaving here to spend time there, that I'm actually spending more time back there than I am over here... if I can explain that to him..._

_I wonder if Shippo could make a set of drawings about it...'_

When she entered the house, her grandfather was sitting at the kitchen table with a pad of paper and a pen and what she really hoped was not in fact a full set of medical dictionaries. Every so often he would give a gleeful chortle and add something to the list that he was creating.

He appeared to already be on page three. Kagome wasn't sure she wanted to read what diseases she was sceduled to come down with over the course of her next trip through the Well.

Souta was busy playing video games in the living room. He'd gotten another new one, and Kagome idly wondered whether this one was going to involve as much noise and violence as the last one.

By which she meant Souta yelling at the screen and occasionally throwing pillows or snack foods, not violence and noise in the actual game.

The realization that it wasn't just school that she was missing out on, that it was her family, and their lives, and all the little things in their daily routines that she had gotten so used to over the years, hit her suddenly in the pit of her stomach. How could she measure that? Or explain it, to someone who had never really had a family of his own, who had spent years holding everybody at a snarling, scoffing distance?

"Kagome!" her grandfather said, finally noticing that she was home. "I didn't realize that you were here. I was just.. um... making some notes for your future travels. There's a wedding at the shrine this evening; if you could help with some of the preparations, I would really appreciate it.

"Of course! Just give me a chance to do some homework and packing first, ok? I'm going to be heading back through the Well tomorrow, and if I get everything taken care of tonight, I can leave sooner."

"Fine, fine," he replied absently, his attention already back on the books he was leafing through.

Kagome headed upstairs and dumped her backpack on the floor. Ok, so homework and packing weren't the first items on her agenda.

Before anything else, she was going to sit down and make a list of examples of ways in which she was taking her responsibilities to the jewel quest seriously so that she could show Inuyasha and he wouldn't annoy her about school again.

Or possibly a list of ways in which she was giving up things in the present.

Or a list of all her responsibilities, past and present, with color-coding and scheduling that made it clear how much time she was spending in each...

She groaned, shoulders slumping slightly. How was she supposed to fix this if she couldn't even figure out what lists she should be making?

Picking up her pencil, she took a deep breath and got out a pad of paper.

Maybe she should just start with a draft, and figure out what to call it later on.

'_Item 1: Suzume is leaving school because she's pregnant and getting married, you idiot, not because she wants to...'_

* * *

Japanese terms: 

-chan: A suffix used for children or between close friends, usually female.

Hentai (noun): Pervert.

Hanyou: Half-demon.

Houshi: A respectful term for a Buddhist monk.

Miko: Shrine priestess.

Osuwari: "Sit, boy!" The Japanese "sit" command used exclusively for dogs. Or disobedient hanyous. ;-)

-sama: A suffix used to connote respect or that the one addressed is of higher rank; often translated as "lord" or "lady."

Taijiya: Demon Slayer/Exterminator; Sango's job.


End file.
